


Birthday Girl

by MaxBetta



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, sansan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 14:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13343589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxBetta/pseuds/MaxBetta
Summary: In case you've never heard the song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KibW1FBhQlU





	Birthday Girl

Sansa Stark felt like the biggest loser on the planet.  It was her 30th birthday, and instead of partying or having a nice dinner with friends, she was standing in a painfully long line at the grocery checkout. Thirty was the age when most people finally have their act together, but here she was, still a mess.  She had been waiting tables for years now, slowly saving up her tips to pay her tuition for community college. She was making progress toward an associate’s degree, but it was happening at a snail’s pace. She had just moved to the area a few months ago when she had found a place to rent for a reasonable price. With the exception of her cat, Arya, she was alone.

 

Her small plastic shopping basket contained only the essentials: A box of tampons, a lean cuisine frozen dinner, a $3 bottle of wine, and a single slice of vanilla birthday cake...a last minute impulse buy as she was walking past the refrigerated case in the bakery department. Her plans were sad for such a special day. Eat a microwave dinner, drink too much wine, maybe binge watch something on Netflix. She was just thinking she might want to rent a DVD from the Redbox kiosk when she noticed who the cashier was. She didn’t know his actual name, but in her mind she had named him “Douchey McDoucheface.” He had spiky blonde hair and beady blue eyes.  He was nosy, always commenting on what people were buying. She couldn’t stand him and avoided his lane at every opportunity, but tonight his was the only one open.

 

The line had moved along enough that there was only one person in front of her now.  She squinted to read the cashier’s name tag. _Joffrey.  What a prick._ It was finally her turn to be checked out. She had unloaded all of her items from the basket when he suddenly switched off the light at his register and put a plastic sign on the belt that said “Lane Closed.”

 

He looked at her with his usual snotty smirk. “I’m on break.”

 

She was just about to give him an earful, when she heard an exceptionally masculine voice say, “I can take you on 12.”  She gathered her items into the basket again, giving Joffrey a look that put fear in his loins, and made her way to lane 12.  As she approached the counter, she couldn’t help but notice the man behind it.  He was tall, and muscular. _He’s like a Greek god or something._ His black hair was long enough that it just barely touched his shoulders. He had some scarring on one side of his face, but he was still strangely very attractive.

 

She inconspicuously took a peek at his name tag. _Sandor. Interesting._ He was quiet as he scanned her items one by one.  She liked that.  

 

When he got to the slice of cake, he asked “Is our birthday cake any good?”

 

“I don’t know, this is my first birthday since I started shopping here.”

 

“Today is your birthday?”

 

“Unfortunately.”

 

“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be out somewhere having fun?

 

“I don’t really know anyone here. I work all the time, which makes it difficult to meet people, so…” Her voice trailed off. He read her the total and she swiped her credit card.  He was in the middle of handing her the receipt when he said, “Hey, wait here just a minute.  I’ll be right back.”

 

He took off, walking briskly. Perplexed, she stood there and waited.  Two minutes went by. Three.  She had decided that if he wasn’t back after five minutes, she was going to leave.

 

The moment that five minutes had passed, she grabbed her one plastic bag and was headed toward the automatic doors when out of the corner of her eye she noticed something floating above the first row of aisles. She couldn’t quite make out what it was, until Sandor rounded the corner, smiling widely. In his right hand, he was holding a nice bouquet of mixed flowers. In his left, a ribbon that led up to a giant metallic helium balloon with the words “Happy Birthday” in huge print on the front. The balloon had to have been at least three feet wide.

 

In the past, this sort of display would have embarrassed her, but right now, in this moment, Sansa was absolutely beaming.  He handed her the flowers and the balloon.

 

“Happy Birthday.”

 

She felt silly for a moment. “Thank you. The flowers are beautiful and the balloon is…”

 

“It plays a song.”

 

“What?”

 

“The red button at the bottom...press it.”

 

She pressed the button, and an alarmingly loud recording of Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” started blaring.  She couldn’t help but crack up laughing, and he did, too.

 

“Thanks. I needed this.”

 

“You’re welcome. Enjoy the rest of your night, birthday girl.”

 

Sansa carried everything out to her car.  Getting the balloon inside was a struggle. She was in the driver’s seat, hands on the steering wheel, about to put her seat belt on, when she stopped.  She realized that she had been complaining about never meeting anyone worthwhile, and just now she had met someone incredible, but she hadn't made any effort to stay in contact with him. She was pondering her stupidity when she noticed a little white envelope stuck in the bouquet of flowers. She opened it and pulled out the small card that was inside. It read:

 

Sandor Clegane (808) 215-2879

Dinner and a movie?

 

_He’s perfect._

**Author's Note:**

> In case you've never heard the song:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KibW1FBhQlU


End file.
